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Spanish Grand Prix F1 qualifying storylines: Mercedes’ day? spanish,grand,prix,f,qualifying,storylines,mercedes,day,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

Spanish Grand Prix F1 qualifying storylines Mercedes day spanishgrandprixfqualifyingstorylinesmercedesdaysbnationcomfront pageformula one2024 formula one
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Through nine races, the 2024 Formula 1 season has offered many twists and turns.

The most recent curveball? George Russell pipping Max Verstappen for pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. Both drivers finished with the same time, but due to the Mercedes driver posting his time first, Russell secured the team’s first pole position of the season. While Verstappen claimed victory on Sunday, Russell finished on the podium in third, the first time Mercedes tasted a podium finish in a Grand Prix this season.

With teammate Lewis Hamilton finishing just behind him in fourth — and securing the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race — it was the team’s best result of the entire season.

Now, on the cusp of qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix, are they poised for an even better day?

Friday’s practices saw the Mercedes duo near or at the top of the timing sheets in both sessions. Russell finished P4 in the first session, with Hamilton close behind in P7, and FP2 was even kinder to the Silver Arrows. Russell posted the eighth-fastest time, but Hamilton topped them all, edging out Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris to top the field.

Might Mercedes be poised for another strong qualifying session in Barcelona?

“FP1 wasn’t the best session for us but we still learned quite a lot. FP2 was a lot better though and the car was feeling great,” said Hamilton in the team’s post-practice report. “The track was very hot, so it was tough on the [tires], especially on the long run. Overall, though, it didn’t feel like we were too far off being right in the mix at the front.”

Russell shared his teammate’s assessment, even if he cautioned Mercedes supporters that it was only Friday.

“We had a good day on track today. The car was performing really well around this circuit. It was encouraging to see Lewis top of the timesheets and we were consistently at the front,” began Russell.

”Our long run pace in FP1 was competitive. In FP2, it seemed that our single lap pace was slightly stronger than our long run speed but overall, the car is feeling strong. It is only Friday, but it has been a while since we’ve been consistently at the upper end of the field,” continued the Mercedes driver. “I’m feeling good and excited as this is what we’ve been chasing for a while. We won’t get ahead of ourselves though and will work diligently tonight and tomorrow to prepare as best as we can for Qualifying and Sunday’s Grand Prix.”

The strong Friday comes at an interesting time for the Brackley-based team. Reports surfaced this week of an anonymous email sent to F1 journalists regarding the treatment of Hamilton by the team. While SB Nation has not reviewed the email, a report from Reuters described the email as “ … purporting to be from an insider” and that it “… accused the Formula One team of sabotaging their departing seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton.”

Team Principal Toto Wolff blasted the email at the FIA Press Conference on Friday, even informing the media in Barcelona that the police have been brought in regarding the matter.

Never a dull moment in F1.

… Alpine?

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images

Friday’s first practice session showed some promise for Alpine, as Esteban Ocon finished inside the top ten and teammate Pierre Gasly was just outside in P13.

FP2 was even better for the team.

When the checkered flag flew at the end of Friday’s second practice session Ocon was inside the top ten in P9, and it was Gasly who provided the true stunner, as he finished fourth in the session.

After a tumultuous start to the season, is Alpine on the verge of an absolute shocker in Barcelona?

Even the team seemed surprised at their strong performance.

“To end the day with both cars in the top-10 is a little bit unexpected from where we thought we would be entering the weekend on this particular track. Obviously, we do not know what the others are doing but overall, it is a positive start to the weekend,” said Ocon in the team’s post-practice report. “It was not the best lap on the C3 [tire] for me in Free Practice 2 with some traffic and there were a few interruptions in both the long and short runs. There are definitely improvements we can make in order to find lap time, so we will keep digging and try to make steps forward for tomorrow’s Qualifying, which is important around this track.”

Gasly surmised that the result probably “flatters” the team.

“It’s been a positive Friday for us, especially Free Practice 2. The end result, finishing in fourth place, probably flatters us and it was certainly a surprise, but a pleasant surprise, and one that brings a smile to my face! In Free Practice 1, we had some minor aerodynamic issues on the car, which we had to fix,” added Gasly. “Once we did that, the car felt good right from the start of the second session. We have a strong baseline to work from and my push lap on the C3 was good but I’m not completely comfortable in the car. There are some things we need to fine tune with the aim of feeling even better in the car tomorrow when it counts.”

If there is a team in need of some flattery, it is certainly Alpine. Even their result in Montreal — their first double-points finish of the season — was not without some controversy, as Ocon seemed frustrated after the race at some team orders that were handed down in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Then there was the other bit of news on Friday, the announcement that Alpine was bringing Flavio Briatore aboard in an executive role:

Briatore is a long-time F1 figure and has what you might call a bit of a checkered past. He was convicted in Italy on fraud charges during the 1980s, before his F1 career, and decades later was forced to resign from the ING Renault F1 team due to his involvement in the “Crashgate” scandal surrounding the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Briatore was then banned indefinitely from any events sanctioned by the FIA, a ban that was later overturned by a French tribunal.

The appointment was a focus in Friday’s FIA Press Conference when Alpine Team Principal Bruno Famin was repeatedly questioned about the move.

“I already answered questions about the past and I don’t really mind about the past. I’m always looking about future and trying what we can get and to get our team better,” said Famin in response to questions from David Croft of Sky Sports F1. “And that’s really our goal. And what I see with having Flavio as an advisor of the team is the opportunity to have his experience and to help us. He has a very high-level knowledge of Formula 1. He knows a lot of people. And I’m sure he will support us in developing the team faster and better. That’s all.”

As the saying goes, winning cures all. Alpine might not be ready to contend for wins just yet, but another strong weekend would certainly be welcome.

Even if some flattery is part of the story.

A “tricky” day for VCARB

At the other end of the spear, it was a “trickier” day for Visa Cash App RB F1 Team.

Friday’s first session saw Daniel Ricciardo in P15, with Yuki Tsunoda at the back of the field in P20. Things did not improve much in FP2, as Tsunoda crept up to P15 and Ricciardo slid back to P16.

Both drivers, however, are hopeful that answers can be found overnight.

“Today was trickier than usual. The pace isn’t where we would’ve liked it to be, so we’ll look into what we’re missing and hopefully, it’ll be better tomorrow.,” said Tsunoda in the team’s post-practice report. “The upgrade is working the way we were expecting but we are not where we want to be and off the pace we usually have, so we’ll review all the data to find what we were missing today.”

As for Ricciardo — who said on Thursday he wants to “earn” his seat at VCARB for next season — it was still fun to get a crack at the reconfigured Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, even if the team “struggled” Friday.

“We struggled a little bit today and missed a bit of competitiveness, but driving is always fun and before today I hadn’t done this track with this last sector. It was the old one a long time ago, now the new one again, and I have to say that I much prefer it because I think that it definitely brings the track to life a bit more,” said Ricciardo. “The main upgrade we brought here is the floor, and with these cars, it’s such a big part of development. There’s still some optimism and once we dive into it tonight, we’ll find how it’s working and better ways to set up the car around it. We still have a bit to do but I hope we can improve for tomorrow.”

As noted by both drivers, VCARB brought a host of upgrades to Barcelona, including a new floor for the RB01. That may have put them on the back foot Friday, but hopefully for the team they can unlock more pace and performance after diving into the data overnight.

Checking in on the title fights

Returning to the front of the field the teams and drivers fighting for position at the top of their respective standings might be in different frames of mind heading into Saturday.

McLaren saw both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri inside the top ten of both sessions, with Norris topping the sheets in FP1 and then finishing third in FP2. “Overall, no surprises. It looks pretty tight at the front of the field, and we can see, like we’ve been seeing lately, that all cars seem to be able to produce quick laps,” said Team Principal Andrea Stella. “We’ll have to stay focused and deliver good laps, but the potential is encouraging, and we’ll try to maximise our performance to score as many points as possible this weekend.”

Ferrari, who are hoping for a bounceback after a disastrous Canadian Grand Prix saw both Carlos Sainz Jr. and Charles Leclerc finish outside the points, might view Friday as a bit of a mixed session. Results-wise Sainz had a particularly strong day, finishing third in FP1, and second in FP2. But both drivers described Friday’s dual practice sessions as “tricky” from their point of view.

“Quite a tricky Friday, as always here in Barcelona when the sun is up and the track changes quite quickly. We struggled a bit in both sessions to get the right balance on the car, but I think everyone had similar issues today. So overall, I’m reasonably happy with the car, but we have work to do, especially race pace-wise,” said Sainz in the team’s post-practice report. “What I really enjoyed today was the atmosphere at the track. Thank you to all the fans for their support. I’m looking forward to putting on a good show tomorrow!”

On the other side of the garage Leclerc — who finished P11 in FP1 and P6 in FP2 — echoed his teammate’s thoughts. “Overall, a tricky day on my side. We struggled quite a bit with the balance of the car, so set-up work will be our main focus ahead of tomorrow,” said Leclerc. “We ran a new package in FP2, but we still have lots of work to do as I am not fully comfortable yet.”

As for Red Bull, they too are left looking for some answers. Verstappen was inside the top five in both sessions but never seemed confident in the RB20. At one point in FP2 Verstappen reported that the car was rather “loose,” radioing into the team that “[t]he car is loose in the exits in general. Still just weird understeer mid-corner, this car doesn’t bite.”

Teammate Sergio Pérez placed fifth in the first session, but was outside the top ten in the second, posting the 13th-fastest time.

Following the session Team Principal Christian Horner indicated that it was going to be “tight” this weekend in Barcelona. “Obviously it’s going to be tight. It’s going to be close,” said Horner. “I think we got some very good data, so plenty of work to do this evening.

“It’s going to be a very tight race here in Barcelona.”

Shaping up to be a theme of the season.

Nate Cicero walks away from terrifying crash at IMSA Mustang Challenge at Watkins Glen nate,cicero,walks,away,from,terrifying,crash,at,imsa,mustang,challenge,at,watkins,glen,sbnation,com,front-page

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During Friday’s IMSA-sanctioned Mustang Challenge race at Watkins Glen, driver Nate Cicero of the #82 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang was involved in a terrifying, rollover crash.

But the driver was able to get right out of his car and walk away from the incident, despite how scary it looked.

The accident occurred during the Mustang Challenge Race 1, and occurred when Cicero was running fifth just 15 minutes into the race. As the front pack reached the hairpin at Turn 7, Cicero’s Mustang suddenly accelerated, veering into the grass and straight into the barrier. Cicero’s car to careened into the air, completing a roll mid-air before landing on its wheels atop a tire barrier:

As noted in the above social media post, it appears that Cicero may have encountered a stuck throttle right before the impact. But the driver was able to exit the car and walk away under his own power.

The barrier could not be repaired in time, and the rest of the race — won by Tyler Maxson — was held behind the safety car.

In a statement to Road & Track a representative from Ford Performance indicated that the cause of the accident is unknown at this time. “It is too early to speculate on the cause of the accident that occurred during the Mustang Challenge Race at Watkins Glen to the #82 Ford Mustang Dark Horse R. The Ford Performance team will be working with MMR Motorsport team to understand more.”

This is just the second weekend of racing for the new Mustang-focused series.

Joe Mazzulla jumping off a duck boat roof on a torn meniscus is most unhinged moment of Celtics’ parade joe,mazzulla,jumping,off,a,duck,boat,roof,on,a,torn,meniscus,is,most,unhinged,moment,of,celtics,parade,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-playoffs,nba-playoffs-powerhouse-2024,dot-com-grid-coverage

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Anyone unfamiliar with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has certainly become more aware of one of the NBA’s strangest characters in the wake of Boston’s championship celebrations.

Mazzulla, likely the only head coach in the league who had to be told by his bosses to stop trying to block opposing player’s shots this year, has taken over the internet in the wake of the Celtics’ title celebrations. In addition to carrying the championship trophy around the city to various restaurants, Mazzulla went on an absolutely bonkers celebratory podcast tour that included him breaking down how he would plan to rob a bank, among other wild anecdotes.

Mazzulla has done it all, including coaching the Celtics to banner No. 18, on a meniscus he has apparently needed surgery on since tearing it in March during a loss to the Hawks, because of course he did. After all, this is a man who once tried to turn down health insurance while working in the G League because he “didn’t have time to get hurt.”

Well, he certainly put that mindset to the test during the Celtics’ championship parade, jumping both off the roof and out the window of the duck boat carrying him multiple times — again, on A TORN MENISCUS THAT WILL REQUIRE SURGERY — to celebrate with fans:

Mazzulla’s son even got in on the fun, showing he’s well on track to matching his father’s delightfully chaotic energy:

Perhaps fittingly, all this comes on a day the governor of Mazzulla’s native Rhode Island has officially dubbed “Joe Mazzulla Day.” That was obviously in the works before Friday, but after watching Joe Mazz at the parade, it would be hard to call the day anything else.

Toto Wolff rips ‘conspiracy theorists and lunatics’ at F1 Spanish Grand Prix toto,wolff,rips,conspiracy,theorists,and,lunatics,at,f,spanish,grand,prix,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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It is rare to find a dull moment in Formula 1.

With the grid in Barcelona for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, reports emerged Friday of an email blast to numerous F1 journalists from an insider purporting to have information regarding Mercedes sabotaging Lewis Hamilton, ahead of his move to Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season. That email was sent following the Canadian Grand Prix, which saw George Russell finish third, and Hamilton fourth.

In the interest of full disclosure, SB Nation has not received this email and is therefore unable to independently verify the content contained therein. According to this report from Reuters, the email “[h]eadlined ‘a potential death warrant for Lewis’, it accused Mercedes of ‘systematic sabotaging’ of Hamilton, his car, tyre and race strategy and mental health.”

Speaking at the FIA Press Conference Friday, Mercedes Team Principal indicated he was given clearance to “go in full force,” and the team boss did just that.

“Yeah, so it’s not from a member of the team. When we are getting these kind of emails, and we’re getting tons of them, it is upsetting, particularly when somebody is talking about death and all these things,” began Wolff. “So, on this particular one, I have instructed to go in full force.

“We have the police inquiring it. We are researching the IP address. We are researching the phone, all of that, because online abuse in that way needs to stop. People can’t hide behind their phones or their computers and abuse teams or drivers in a way like this,” continued Wolff. “I don’t know what some of the conspiracy theorists and lunatics think out there. Lewis was part of the team for 12 years. We have a friendship. We trust each other. We want to win this. We want to end this on a high. We want to celebrate the relationship.”

Wolff then made it clear that even if you did not trust him on that point, the team is still trying to win a Constructors’ Championship, which requires both Hamilton and George Russell performing well.

“And if you don’t believe all of that, then you can believe that we want to win the Constructors’ World Championship. And part of the Constructors’ World Championship is making both cars win. So to all of these mad people out there… take a shrink.”

The Mercedes boss also received backing during the FIA Press Conference from long-time friend — and Hamilton’s next boss — Frederic Vasseur. The Ferrari Team Principal called such allegations “irrational” given Mercedes’ quest for a title.

“Yeah just on this one, and I’m putting my relationship with Toto aside, how you could imagine that a company with 1,500 people working night and day, pushing like hell to bring upgrades, and for you it’s not enough, but bringing upgrades each races, we could kill one of our cars or damage one of our cars? This is completely irrational and nobody in the paddock could do something like this,” declared Vasseur. “We are fighting for the championship. Each weekend we are trying to score one point more than the other one. How you could imagine that we say ‘OK, that Lewis, we don’t want to score points anymore with him’. For me it’s completely irrational and completely out of the scope of the person who are doing my business.”

Wolff also addressed recent comments on social media that have turned largely negative regarding the relationship between the two Mercedes drivers.

“So first of all, I’m not reading any comments. I don’t have social media. And I think it’s important to protect oneself by doing so. And I’ve commented about this many times before, there will always be people that have their laptop on the chest in their bedroom and just typing away.,” started Wolff. “And if people feel like they’re abusing, want to abuse and hit out and hide behind a made-up Instagram account or anything else, that for me is… Come up, say who you are, and we’ll take the criticism and discuss, but don’t hide.

“And there seems to be lots of irrationality also, because we want to be successful. We want to be successful with the most iconic driver the sport has ever had. The privilege that we had to work with Lewis as an incredible driver, a great personality, that goes through the ups and downs like any other like any other sports person. I totally respect the reasons for him going to Ferrari. There is no grudge. There is no bad feeling.”

The Mercedes boss then outlined how the matter is being handled internally.

“The interaction we have in the team is positive. And so every comment from the outside of what is going in the team is just simply wrong. But there’s always a limit. I mean, if emails are being sent or telephone numbers are being used for these messages, then for me, the joking stops,” outlined Wolff. “And we will pursue it, whether that is successful or not. But there are limits to certain things. And obviously, online abuse is not only something that happens to us or to the team or to the people, it happens badly to Lewis, badly to Lewis, and to George.

“And therefore, people should, and we’ve seen Max [Verstappen] speaking out about it and Kelly [Piquet, Verstappen’s partner]. People that abuse are cowards, because they hide. So whatever is going on out there with social media, with all the good things that it provides, and all those people that have been given a platform, that’s just the negatives that come with it. I have no feelings to someone that abuses for the reasons I just said before.”

Both Hamilton and Russell addressed some of the social media commentary on Thursday, with the seven-time champion declaring the team needs “support not negativity” from fans. Verstappen and his partner Piquet also took to social media in recent weeks to blast rumors about their relationship, with the F1 driver calling the “falsehoods” on social media “insane and ridiculous.”

Returning to Mercedes, the team addressed some of the social media rumors during Thursday’s media session at the Spanish Grand Prix. “I think they know if you look over the years, we’ve always been a strong team. We’ve always worked really hard together,” said Hamilton at the team’s Thursday media session in Barcelona. “I think we need support, not negativity, and I wasn’t actually aware that George was experiencing negativity.

“George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and is delivering for the team, so he can’t be faulted at all,” continued Hamilton. “Of course, there can always be things done better within the team, and that comes through conversation, through communication, and that’s something that we are consistently working on. But we’re all in the same boat. We’re all working hard together. We want to finish on a high and feel that we owe that to our long-term relationship that we’ve had.”

Don’t touch Bills players’ hair don,t,touch,bills,players,hair,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl

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The Buffalo Bills seem like they’re having fun this offseason. Despite entering a 2024 season filled with question marks, you could convince me that they’re the Super Bowl favorites just based off the vibes coming from the content they put out on social media.

However, if you learn one thing from watching the Bills’ social media content, it’s to never touch someone’s hair with some clippers and act like you gonna actually cut it.

See I feel the same way as Keon Coleman here. You’ll lose a finger trying to cut my hair and you’re not my barber. That’s disrespectful right there, because someone later also says something that I agree with: You let someone else cut your hair then you cheating on your barber. We don’t cheat around here, so that’s just not going to happen.

I appreciate everyone’s swift and decisive answers, because I absolutely agree with all of them. Don’t come near me with those clippers, man.

Men’s College World Series Finals: Texas A&M-Tennessee statistics, schedule, and prediction men,s,college,world,series,finals,texas,a,m,tennessee,statistics,schedule,and,prediction,sbnation,com,front-page,college-baseball,college-world-series,ncaa-baseball-tournament

Mens College World Series Finals Texas AM Tennessee statistics schedule and
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At the end of May 64 college baseball teams began a journey, with Omaha as their dream destination.

Now just two teams are left standing in Omaha, with dreams of NCAA baseball immortality alive.

The Men’s College World Series Finals begin on Saturday, with SEC rivals Tennessee and Texas A&M set to begin a best-of-three series to determine this season’s National Champion. When this tournament began the Volunteers and the Aggies were viewed as two of the top teams in the field, as the Aggies were the third-seeded team heading into the tournament, while the Volunteers were the top team in the field.

If history is to be our guide, the Aggies might be in a better position to win the Finals. Since the NCAA expanded to the current format the top-overall seed has won the Men’s College World Series just once, and that was Miami back in 1999, the first season with a 64-team field. More often than not the top seed comes up short, as the Volunteers did back in 2022 when they were the top-seeded team and did not even advance to Omaha.

As for teams seeded No. 3, like Texas A&M, they have won the Men’s College World Series three times. Most recently Oregon State won as a No. 3 seed back in 2018.

Ahead of the Finals getting underway, let’s take a look at each team’s path to this point, a statistical matchup between the two teams, revisit what happened the one time they played this season, and finish it off with a prediction sure to be wrong.

Tennessee’s path to the Finals

The Volunteers enter the Men’s College World Series Finals with a 58-12 overall record, and went 22-8 this season in SEC play.

The Volunteers have lost just once in the entire Men’s College World Series.

Knoxville Regional

Defeated Northern Kentucky, 9-3
Defeated Indiana 12-6
Defeated Southern Miss 12-3

Knoxville Super Regional

Defeated Evansville 11-6
Lost to Evansville 10-8
Defeated Evansville 12-1

Men’s College World Series Double Elimination Round

Defeated Florida State 12-11
Defeated North Carolina 6-1
Defeated Florida State 7-2

Texas A&M’s path to the Finals

The Aggies enter the Men’s College World Series Finals with a 52-13 overall record, while they finished with a 19-11 record in SEC play.

They have yet to lose since the Men’s College World Series began.

Bryan-College Station Regional

Defeated Grambling 8-0
Defeated Texas 4-2
Defeated Louisiana 9-4

Bryan-College Station Super Regional

Defeated Oregon 10-6
Defeated Oregon 15-9

Men’s College World Series Double Elimination Round

Defeated Florida 3-2
Defeated Kentucky 5-1
Defeated Florida 6-0

Men’s College World Series Final schedule

Saturday, June 22

  • Game 1: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+

Sunday, June 23

  • Game 2: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 2:00 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+

Monday, June 24

  • Game 3 (if necessary): Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+

Statistical matchup

Here is how these two teams matchup in a number of key statistics, provided by both D1Baseball.com and NCAA.com:

Head-to-head

These teams have met just once this season, back in SEC Tournament play.

In that game, back on May 23, the Aggies took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run from leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac in the third inning. But the Volunteers chipped away over the next few innings, tying the game in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from outfielder Dylan Dreiling. They took the lead in the fourth on a Fielder’s Choice off the bat of Christian Moore, with Dean Curley scoring from third.

In the bottom of the fifth a double from Kavares Tears brought Dreiling around to score, giving the Volunteers a 3-1 lead. Texas A&M cut that lead to just one with a solo shot off the bat of catcher Jackson Appell in the sixth.

Tears came through again for Tennessee in the seventh, with a three-run blast to left pushed the Volunteers’ lead to 6-2. The teams traded runs in the eighth, and Grahovac added another run for the Aggies in the ninth on a solo shot, but it was not enough as the Volunteers advanced by the final score of 7-4.

A prediction sure to be wrong

What is a preview piece without a prediction that is sure to be wrong?

As the old adage goes, good pitching beats good hitting. As you can see above, the Aggies have a solid staff to call on for this series, and that staff is rested and ready to go.

But the college game is a bit different these days. Watching the entire Men’s College World Series this year, you get the sense that today’s game is about what you can do at the plate. While both teams have potent lineups, Tennessee does have an advantage at the dish.

This is likely a series that goes the entire three games, and when all is said and done, the Volunteers will take home the title.

Travelers: Scottie Scheffler rebounds after frustrating U.S. Open travelers,scottie,scheffler,rebounds,after,frustrating,u,s,open,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

Travelers Scottie Scheffler rebounds after frustrating US Open travelersscottieschefflerreboundsafterfrustratingusopensbnationcomfront pagegolfgolf pga tourgolf news
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CROMWELL, Conn. — The World No. 1 looked like the best player on the planet again at the Travelers Championship on Thursday.

Scottie Scheffler, fresh off a surprising T-41 at the U.S. Open, carded a 5-under 65 during the first round of the final Signature Event of the season. He had control of his swing once again and holed plenty of putts, much like he did during his five wins.

“I feel like I hit it nice,” Scheffler assessed.

“Found some swings, or found some stuff in my swing at the beginning of the week, and definitely feel like I’m swinging a lot better than I did last week.”

Scottie Scheffler plays the 3rd hole during the first round of the 2024 Travelers Championship.
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images

Scheffler did not record a single under-par round at Pinehurst No. 2, a week he called “frustrating.” Thursday’s 65 in Connecticut is his first-under-par score since the third round of the Memorial Tournament when he shot a 1-under 71.

“I struggled to see the break on the greens last week. I had a hard time finding the right line,” Scheffler explained.

“I felt like I hit a lot of good putts that came off the way I wanted to, and I looked up, but they were just not even really close to going in at times. So that can always be a bit frustrating, but it’s nice to get here on some familiar surfaces and hit some good putts and see some balls go in.”

Scheffler gained two strokes on the greens on Thursday, ranking 9th in the field. Meanwhile, Scheffler lost 1.51 strokes to the field last week with his putter, which was good for 70th of 74 players who made the cut.

Of course, Scheffler switched to a mallet putter ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he then won. Since that change, Scheffler has added four more victories, and his putting has improved immensely since the beginning of the season.

Look no further than early Thursday, when the top-ranked player in the world poured in three straight birdies over his first four holes. He made a 19-footer at the par-4 2nd, a 13-footer at the 3rd, and then, at the challenging par-4 4th, Scheffler drained a birdie try from 16 feet. He also made an eagle on the par-5 13th, thanks to a spectacular approach from 256 yards out that landed eight feet away.

“I hit two really great shots in there to give myself a look,” Scheffler said of the 13th.

“Then I got a nice read off Max [Homa’s] putt and was able to knock that in.”

Scheffler added another birdie at the par-4 14th, which got him to 5-under for the day. He failed to capitalize on a good tee shot at the drivable par-4 15th, finishing with four straight pars.

The reigning Masters champion struggled to save par last week in North Carolina, but now he has no issues making par this week. That should intimidate the rest of the field, as Scheffler looks back to being the best after an off week at the U.S. Open.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Paige Spiranac has company; Christo Lamprecht joins WME Sports paige,spiranac,has,company,christo,lamprecht,joins,wme,sports,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

Paige Spiranac has company Christo Lamprecht joins WME Sports paigespiranachascompanychristolamprechtjoinswmesportssbnationcomgolfgolf pga tourgolf news
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Christo Lamprecht, the 6-foot-8 South African who held the first-round lead at the Open Championship last year as an amateur, has signed a deal with WME Sports for representation after turning professional.

He joins social media star Paige Spiranac, who joined WME Sports in May. The agency is a subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings, representing high-profile talent, athletes, and media while owning stakes in WWE and UFC.

Ari Emmanuel serves as the CEO of Endeavor Group Holdings, which expressed interest in negotiating a deal with the PGA Tour last fall. However, the tour ultimately went in a different direction, scoring a $1.5 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG) as it continues negotiating an agreement with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Nevertheless, WME Sports also represents a pair of three-time major champions, Padraig Harrington and Jordan Spieth, putting Lamprecht in good company among fellow professionals. Min Woo Lee is also a part of WME, as are five of the top 10 players in the LPGA’s Rolex Rankings.

“This is a special moment in my career,” Lamprecht said.

Christo Lamprecht.
Photo by Reed Hoffmann/Getty Images

“Having fulfilled a lifelong dream of turning professional, it gives me confidence knowing I have the best team at WME Sports guiding me through this next chapter.”

Lamprecht had a terrific career at Georgia Tech, earning All-American honors three times while winning three individual titles as a Yellow Jacket. He also recorded 24 top-10 career finishes. On top of that, his impressive resume includes the 2024 Byron Nelson Award, which he received this year as the country’s top scholar-athlete.

“Christo is the modern face of golf with his exceptional length and power, coupled with a tremendous short game,” said Jason Horrell, the co-head of WME’s Golf division.

“His talent is surpassed only by the quality of person he is off the course and we couldn’t be more excited to represent and work with him as he launches his professional career.”

In his Korn Ferry Tour debut at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open, Lamprecht missed the cut, shooting an 8-over 78 on day one. But he rebounded with a strong 7-under 63 in round two.

He also missed the cut at The Masters this year, but surely, a bright future for Lamprecht lies ahead. He was the top-ranked amateur player before turning professional.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

Mercedes’ James Allison admits feeling ‘dumb’ after early-season F1 struggles mercedes,james,allison,admits,feeling,dumb,after,early,season,f,struggles,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

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As the 2024 Formula 1 season unfolded, Mercedes found themselves lingering in the middle of the pack. Drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell described the W15, their team’s challenger for the current season, as being on a “knife’s edge.”

But in recent weeks, that edge has widened a bit.

A series of upgrades the team started rolling out beginning at the Miami Grand Prix, including a redesigned front wing, have seen the team deliver improved performance on the track, and in the standings. The Silver Arrows are coming off their best Grand Prix result of the season in Montreal, as Russell secured the team’s first Grand Prix podium with a P2 and Hamilton finished in P4. Those results, plus Hamilton picking up a bonus point for recording the fastest lap of the race, saw Mercedes bank 28 points in the Constructors’ Championship standings, their best result of the season.

According to Mercedes Technical Director James Allison, that result comes after feeling rather “dumb” when they finally pieced together some answers.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Allison opened up about the team’s start to the year, and their search for answers regarding the W15.

“The thing that has bedevilled us from the start of the year, the overriding thing, was that you could get the car okay in a slow corner, get it quite decent in a fast corner, but you couldn’t get it good in both at the same time,” described Allison.

That descriptions mirrors how Russell described the W15 at the Miami Grand Prix. Speaking to the media, including SB Nation, Russell outlined the difficulties in getting the car into the optimal operating window.

“The problems you know Lewis and I faced last year was with this sort of spiteful rear end, and now suddenly we are struggling to turn the car at its low speed corners, and it’s the front [end] That’s that’s sort of washing out,” described Russell in Miami. “So I think we’ve just gone too far in in the other direction, and we need to kind of find a halfway house from what we had last year and where we ended up right now.”

In Allison’s mind, the team finally solved the problems, delivering a more consistent car to Russell and Hamilton.

“What has changed in the last two, three races is that we’ve modified the car in such a way as it actually has a reasonable high-to-low-speed balance and a reasonable through-corner balance,” described Allison.

“Those are sort of boringly jargony things that it just means that the driver can trust both the front and rear axle in a fast corner and a slow corner, and can trust it from when he hits the brakes at the beginning of the corner, all the way through the apex and out the other side,” continued the Mercedes Technical Diretor. “That balance is crucial to a driver, that they know whether the car is going to understeer or oversteer, and that it’s going to follow the trajectory.”

Allison conceded the breakthrough was an “oh my God” moment for him and the team, terming it a “ … more of an ‘oh God, how can we have been so dumb?’-type moment where you see the path forward and you should have seen it sooner.”

Ultimately, the team went down an aerodynamic path to find the solution.

“A thing that we’d been fighting all year with springs and bars and all the mechanical accoutrements on the car, [we’re now] just attacking it with the aerodynamic characteristic of the car,” Allison told the Beyond the Grid podcast.

Having come to a solution, Allison believes Mercedes can be “as fast as anybody” over the rest of the season.

“I think that we definitely can get the car this season to be properly competitive and to fear no tracks,” he said. “I think that the specifics of this circuit [Montreal] might make our fans think prematurely that we’re already there. This circuit has quite a low range of cornering speeds in it, and it tests the car maybe slightly less severely than some of the others that are coming up.

“While I’m pretty sure that we will make a good showing in the nearby future races, I’d be surprised if we’re on pole at the next round, for example. But I am absolutely certain that we can be as fast as anybody over the coming period.”

You can listen to Allison’s entire appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast here.

PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan: Travelers gets Signature Event status again pga,tour,s,jay,monahan,travelers,gets,signature,event,status,again,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

PGA Tours Jay Monahan Travelers gets Signature Event status again
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CROMWELL, Conn. — PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan met with the media at TPC River Highlands on Wednesday and revealed that the Travelers Championship will receive Signature Event status again in 2025.

These tournaments feature elevated purses and limited field sizes, hovering around 70 players. This year’s Travelers Championship marks the eighth and final Signature Event of the 2024 season.

“This event will be a Signature Event in 2025,” Monahan said. “This is the 18th year with Travelers, and we have an agreement; they’re in a 10-year agreement through 2030.”

Travelers first sponsored this tournament in 2007, when Hunter Mahan won his first event on the PGA Tour. Since then, it has become a fan favorite among tour pros, who cite the golf course and hospitality as reasons why.

“It’s good to be back. I feel like this is always a fun tournament to come play,” said World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on Wednesday.

Scottie Scheffler smiles ahead of the 2024 Travelers Championship.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

“The community really rallies around the tournament. The fans are always tremendous. The golf course is typically always in great shape. The clubhouse. The way the tournament treats us as players is always tremendous. So it’s a very easy, fun week for us to come play, and glad to be back here.”

Caddies even receive courtesy cars this week, a rarity on the PGA Tour. But that’s not all. The top players on the PGA Tour receive plenty of other amenities.

“They do such an amazing job for us, our caddies, and our support team,” added Xander Schauffele.

“If you look at the range, it’s got the little umbrellas, we have a coffee stand, a lounging area, there’s the green truck there with the pizza. So it’s such a relaxing week coming after the U.S. Open and I think all of us really appreciate that.”

With this in mind, the Signature Event model—new for 2024—has drawn plenty of criticism. In March, Lucas Glover called these tournaments a “money grab,” adding that he “doesn’t like the idea at all.”

“Why do the signature events have [a maximum of] 80 players, and only 50 make the cut? Our biggest signature event next week is 144 players with a full cut. The signature event,” Glover said in March, referencing The Players Championship.

“I just don’t see what was so bad out here that we had to do all this. Let’s raise some purses to make sure we keep some guys around, but now we’ve eliminated a lot of playing opportunities for some really good players.”

Monahan recognizes this too, as many players, such as Min Woo Lee, who has had a strong 2024 season, did not qualify for the Travelers this week, even though Rory McIlroy withdrew.

“Nothing’s perfect, nothing ever is, but when you look at where we are today and as we shared with our board [on Tuesday], we feel like we’re delivering to our fans exactly what we set out to do, and that is to get our top players competing together more often, and to create the most competitive schedule we can possibly create,” Monahan said about the Signature Events.

Jay Monahan, Texas Children’s Houston Open

Jay Monahan during the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Photo by Raj Mehta/Getty Images

“When you look at our full-field events, and you look at the strength of the field, whether it’s top 50 or top 125, our strength of the field at full-field events is up 35 percent.”

The Signature Events have undoubtedly provided opportunities for the best players to compete against one another. Look no further than who has won the seven Signature Events this season: Scheffler has won three. Wyndham Clark triumphed at Pebble Beach with a record-breaking 60. Hideki Matsuyama shot 61 at Riviera to come from behind and steal the Genesis Invitational, and then Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship. Chris Kirk also won The Sentry, the first tournament of the year. That’s a pretty strong whos-who of the PGA Tour.

Plus, these wins came against very strong fields. The top 50 players from last year’s FedEx Cup standings gained entry into each of these tournaments in 2024. Then, the PGA Tour established the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5 to help round out these limited-field events. Whoever wins an event on the PGA Tour in 2024 also gains entry, while each tournament has sponsor exemptions they use to round out the field. Those exemptions have been greatly scrutinized, as PGA Tour Policy Board members seem to take a fair share of those. Look no further than Webb Simpson, who again received an exemption to play this week.

Nevertheless, this tournament always delivers. Players typically go low on this golf course, as TPC River Highlands, the shortest course on tour, yields plenty of birdies. It also produces great drama, as the tournament has had six playoffs since 2007. One stroke has decided the result six other times, too.

So, considering all of this, it makes sense for the tour to make the Travelers Championship a Signature Event in 2025, despite some of the criticism the overall model has received.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.